State officials halt transfers of disabled

CHICAGO (AP) – Illinois officials agreed Thursday to temporarily halt the movement of residents out of an institution for the developmentally disabled in the southern Illinois city of Centralia.

At the request of U.S. Northern District Court Judge Ruben Castillo, the state agreed to stop the transfer of all but one resident out of Murray Developmental Center until a hearing next week on a temporary restraining order requested by residents’ families.

The lone resident who Castillo said can be moved is returning to his mother’s home.

Gov. Pat Quinn ordered Murray and several other facilities closed last year as part of an effort to save the state tens of millions of dollars. But parents of Murray residents sued to stop or delay the closure, saying residents wouldn’t get the care they needed elsewhere. Earlier this month, a panel of Illinois lawmakers voted against closing the center, as well as two of the state’s prisons.